^^^^^I'll be the first to admit that I have some difficult moms who make me want to pull out every strand of hair I have. But 80% of them really are nice and want to support their kid's activities.
Some parent-related advice:
1. Have a SCHEDULE and TRY to STICK TO IT. For most of HS, until kids are able to drive, parents are still playing taxi. So it's important to give them an up-to-date calendar and practice schedule and hold to it! Ex: They need to know that practices are ALWAYS T/W/TH from 4-6pm because they have other things to do that do not revolve around Katie's school cheer schedule.
2. Along those same lines, DO NOT SPRING ANYTHING ON THEM LAST MINUTE. Example: You can't just decide on Thursday that there will be a last-minute mandatory Saturday practice for the Monday pep rally. People make plans for weekends that do not revolve around cheer and just adding a practice ruins that.
3. Try to keep costs down! Yes, I know every girl on your team is just clamoring for an Nfinity sparkle backpack and custom sports bras for district, regional, and state competition practices. The thing is, THEY ARE NOT PAYING. Most likely mom and dad are footing the bill. So if your school is such that all costs are paid by the girls, be conscious of your parents and their wallets and make sure you're not allowing girls to select camp wear, bows, etc. that they like with no regard for pricing. You need to be the one guiding those decisions.
4. Make sure they're aware of your rules and stick to them. Include them in a mandatory parent meeting before tryouts so that they know the rules that their kids need to abide by.
5. On that same token, apply the rules fairly to all kids. Nothing upsets a parent more than knowing a rule, yet knowing that another kid is getting away with NOT following it. For example: If you benched Kelly for being late to the game, her mom is going to be really upset if she hears that Becky was late and cheered the whole game.
6. Have a way for parents to be involved in a way that meets your needs. If they want to be involved, use them, but in a way that focuses on what you need and doesn't invite confusion, drama, and general Suzy's Mom-ness into the picture. Ex: Let them be in charge of the food for the team's retreat. That's meaningful involvement that doesn't invite drama. However, letting a mom be in charge of running practices in your absence has DRAMA written all over it. (I mentored a Pop Warner coach who made that mistake.)
7. Communicate with parents and respond to their concerns promptly. Not saying you need to respond to a mom within 5 minutes of her email, but if she has a question about directions to a comp that's 3 days away, get back to her BEFORE THAT.
8. Establish a chain of command for any concerns. Let them know that any team related concerns should be voiced to YOU first and create a climate of mutual respect so they feel comfortable bringing you their concerns. It's easy to look down on them and think they're all Suzy's Moms. But that makes things hard on you because they KNOW you don't care what they think. So when there is an issue, they're more likely to go OVER YOUR HEAD and cause a problem.
9. Don't play favorites. You may really personally like Kendall's mom. But that should = overlooking Kendall's repeated absences from practice because you don't want her mom to be mad.
10. Recognize that the average mom really doesn't know a lot about cheer and just wants to support her daughter. Know that you might have to answer some really silly questions like "Why isn't Suzy a flyer?" but that it mostly stems from not actually knowing what qualifies someone as a good flyer. Ex: She might think "smallest girl = flyer" not realizing that her daughter has the control and flexibility of a broom.
